Exclusive: ‘I played Abhishek Bachchan’s body double, my dad did the same for Mr Bachchan,’ Amritpal Singh

Amritpal Singh and Rohit Shetty/PR image

Actor Amritpal Singh, who plays Abbas in Sooryavanshi has also been a body double to actors like Abhishek Bachchan and Ranveer Singh. His father has worked as a stunt double for Amitabh Bachchan. Amritpal speaks to mid-day.com about his latest release and his journey from being a stunt double to an action director.

How does it feel now that Sooryavanshi has finally released and is a hit?

I'm proud to be part of such a big film. We always knew it will do well, it's a Rohit Shetty film and we were waiting since long. Finally the film released at a perfect time, we were supposed to release in March 2020 but we got Diwali this year. What better than Diwali for a Rohit Shetty film?

What was the waiting period like?

I can't tell you how anxious we were . I would keep asking Rohit sir's assistant directors who are my friends if they have any news because last November-December, theaters opened so we were expecting a release. Then the film was to release in April but again we had a lockdown. This time we were praying the film releases on Diwali without any issues. We are all relieved now.

How were you approached for the part?

I had worked with Rohit sir as a stunt man in Bol Bachchan. Then I started working as an assistant action director in Simmba and Sooryavanshi. I did the police station action sequences for Ranveer Singh in Simmba and at that time, Rohit sir asked me to play Sadashiv Ranade's part in Simmba and I was surprised that he approached me for the part. I knew that I won't have a role in the next cop universe because the character died in Simmba. Suddenly I got a call from Vidhi ma'am, Rohit sir's chief AD, saying he wants me to play a pivotal role in Sooryavanshi, a Muslim cop named Abbas. She explained to me that Sooryavanshi is not a continuation of Simmba and Rohit sir believes in working with the same set of people even if people raise questions. I instantly loved the character, especially the mandir-masjid sequence. I got goose bumps just listening to it.

Your father also worked as a stunt man…

I was body double for Abhishek Bachchan in Bol Bachchan. My dad was Mr. Amitabh Bachchan's body double. When Abhishek got to know I'm Manjit's son he called up his dad and Mr Bachchan said he wanted to meet me. That was a surreal moment. Rohit sir was so happy when I graduated to being an action director last year after all these years of being a stunt double.

What inspired you to be a stunt man despite seeing your dad face difficulties considering safety measures weren't as stringent back then?

To be frank I never wanted to be a stunt man. I used to hear all those stories and see risky stunts by my dad, I wanted to be an actor. I wanted to be in front of the camera. Even as a stunt man whenever I got an opportunity though my screen presence was limited I would perform like I'm the superstar. I had no backing after my father passed away and I knew the struggle period would be tough so I thought I can learn the tricks of the trade being a stuntman.

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